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Jeff Cohn is a fashion, commercial, and fine art photographer from Model Mayhem.

Leah Waddill: Where are you from? Where is most of your work done?

Jeff Cohn: I was born and raised in Delran NJ, which is a small suburb of Philadelphia. I moved to Philly after college and have lived in or around the city for the past ten years.

Most of my work is shot in my home studio located in North East Philadelphia. My living room is converted into a studio space, which provides the best of both worlds; convenient location and I have my TV and DVD’s handy while MUA’s do makeup.

Leah Waddill:  Do you travel often for your photography?

Jeff Cohn:  My first real gig was tour photographer for the band KMFDM, We did the whole US in 40 days, 36 cities. Since then my travel has been fairly limited. I was co-coordinator/founder of Catwalk Tragedy (Alternative Beauty Pageant) which took me to Orlando and NYC for shows. Other than that I have been very much a homebody, I love Philadelphia but if someone wants to pay me to go visit other places I will gladly jump on a plane.

Leah Waddill: Wow! So, how long ago was your first publicized work? What was it?

Jeff Cohn:  My first real publicized work was a few shots that appeared in Passional Magazine, which was a small magazine published in Philly for Passional Boutique. I had two shots of Jessica Saint in Delicious Corsets, one editorial/one full page. I believe that was around 2004 though I’m not 100% sure. I still work with both Jessica (one of my main makeup artists) and Delicious Corsets all the time.

Leah Waddill:  What was your first professional camera?  How did you obtain it? (Purchase, garage sale, gift, sold your soul, etc.)

I’ve had a few. KMFDM bought me a high-end point and shoot for the tour, which I loved and got some great results with. My first DSRL was an Olympus D300. Strange story how I got that one. My friends and I went to a computer store one night and while we were standing outside chitchatting over a cigarette a very drunk and boisterous kid came up to us bragging about how much money he had and trying to impress the girls. He offered to buy them both Ipods, I wanted to call him on it so I said “buy me a camera”. After some quick negotiations he said He’d buy me a camera if I did his web site (I did more design back then). I said ok, we went inside and I walked out of there with the camera.  He wound up never trying to collect on the web site but we did become friends and for the next year Eric was part of my life and my circle (He was much better sober). Unfortunately he took his own life later that year; I went to his funeral and thanked him for helping to start my career and helping me achieve my dreams.

Leah Waddill:  It’s amazing how much one person may help another without knowing the extent of it. So what is your current camera?  If you have more than one, what is your preferred camera?

Jeff Cohn:  I shot with that camera for at least a year and a half, eventually needing to upgrade I purchased a Canon Rebel XT, which is still my main camera. Once I have made some real money I’ll probably get a 7D or 5D MII, I’m pretty loyal to Canon now.

Leah Waddill: What camera would you recommend to a new photographer?  Is there a special way of getting it at a good price (other than theft?)?

Jeff Cohn:  I love the Rebel series. Even the older ones produce great results and are excellent to both learn on and grow with. They’re affordable and versatile. If I was in the market I’d be looking on Craigslist first then comparing that to used models at New York Camera Video.

Leah Waddill:  I love CL!  Ok, so here is a dream world, you have a million dollars to shoot with one model of your choice, who is it? What genre?

Jeff Cohn:  I’d probably find a TF* Shoot [LW: TF* means time for CD/print] on Modelmayhem and pocket the Million. Then I’d buy the camera’s listed above and a bunch of lights to go in my new mansion.  I’d definitely make sure the model was fed though. Oh and we’d do the shoot at Pripyat in the Ukraine.

Leah Waddill: Great job avoiding the question! So then… What genres do you normally shoot?  Do you want to expand to other genres?

Jeff Cohn:  My focuses have been varied as of late. My favorite genre’s to shoot are high fashion, commercial fashion, editorial, advertorial, catalog, beauty, fashion-nude, alternative, product and artistic nude. I’ve also been shooting food a lot lately and absolutely love that [LW: Yea... I've heard that us fashion models get a bit squirmy and can be difficult on set! Better to avoid us altogether!] . I love all genres involving people or advertising. I’m not much for landscape or weddings, though I’ve done both.

Right now I’m working on building up my Life style, head-shots, food and product photography. I’d love to shoot full time for a fashion magazine, agency, design house or even an advertising agency.

Leah Waddill: Alright, we hear about them all the time, flakes! (For those of you that don’t know what a flake is, a flake is someone who unprofessionally cancels or completely skips a shoot last minute)

… What was the best flake excuse you’ve ever gotten? (no names please!)

Jeff Cohn: An old high school friend of mine was a professional football player, turned actor, turned host for History Channel show.  We had recently caught up and planned to do a promotional shoot for his show. I got an email from him a couple days before saying “The History channel is sending me to Cambodia”. So far no model or client has come even remotely close to topping that.

Leah Waddill: Sounds like a cheap excuse to me…What was your most interesting shoot so far?

Jeff Cohn:  Every shoot offers something new and different. I’d have to say my shoot a year ago with Chanonrf comes close to the most interesting just because we hit a roll and really knocked every look out of the park. I’m still pulling images from that shoot all this time later and I’ve still got whole sets that are completely unreleased. Several shots from it have been published, used in my own advertising and one was even turned into a mirror etching that hangs in my living room (Mindspand Art)

So, do you have a mentor? Is there anyone whose work you really admire?

Jeff Cohn:  I’ve had and have many. Starting out I learned a lot from Sandy R. Then I had S.Jenx and Jason Messer take me under their wing. I’ve always gone to Jerry Bennett for advice, same with Steve Prue and Philip Warner (Lithium Picnic). My peers and circle of friends are mostly photographers, models, designers or makeup artists so we all kinda inspire, advise and compete with each other all the time.

Philadelphia is chock full of amazing talent; Corwin Prescott, Kencredible, Jonathan Sorber, Serena Star, Wandering Bohemian, Hyde, James Jackson, Bennett, Joshua Black, Jenx and the Fall Studios, Krazy Spoons, MojoKiss, Redrum Collective, Drewcifer… and I’m sure a ton I’ve forgotten, inspiration is rampant here.

Leah Waddill: Ahhh! I know a few of those hooligans! :)  Great crowd!

Help to pass the torch on… What is your best advice for new photographers?  Any advice to anyone else in the industry?

Jeff Cohn: Well, I’m hardly done with the torch, I feel like I just lit it… but, Marketing, Networking and keeping up with Fashion are just as important as learning how to use your camera and lights. I try to learn a new trick with my camera every shoot but I also try to hit up Barnes N Noble and buy every fashion magazine I can get my hands on every month. Use sites like Modelmayhem for all their worth, the lists feature is a fountain of inspiration, Forums are great for getting both professional and ludicrous advice. Go to local events, Shoot outside your genre. Talk to models, they usually have worked with more photographers than you have and can provide a lot of insight to things they’ve witnessed other pro’s do. Don’t hold back.

Leah Waddill:  Do you have a website that showcases your work?

Jeff Cohn:  I have two websites, Fashionandadvertising.com and JeffCohnPhoto.com and the blog Deep Focus http://jeffcohn.blogspot.com.

Leah Waddill: Most importantly, if you could only have one for the rest of your life…. Which would you have, Cake or pie?

Jeff Cohn:  Cream Cheese Brownies

Leah Waddill:  Thanks for the interview.  If anyone has additional questions for Jeff or ideas for new questions in the future please leave a comment!

Contact:
Jeff Cohn
Commercial and Fashion Photography
267-879-8148
Info@x-pose.net

Sites:

http://www.JeffCohnPhoto.com
http://www.fashionandadvertising.com
http://jeffcohn.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/jeffcohnphoto
http://xposedotnet.deviantart.com/
http://twitter.com/JeffCohnPhoto
http://www.zivity.com/users/xposedotnet
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcohnphoto/
http://www.myspace.com/jeffcohn

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1. Props to Leah Waddill – High Fashion Model Interview